B Can gravitational waves interfere with each other?

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Gravitational waves theoretically can interfere with each other due to their energy, but in practice, this effect is negligible and not relevant for detection. The discussion highlights that gravitational waves emitted by inspiraling black holes have very weak intensity in certain directions, particularly along the axis of orbital angular momentum. While gravitational waves can cause tiny distortions in space-time, the effects on human perception are minimal, with changes detected by instruments like LIGO being on the order of 10^-21. It is suggested that gravitational waves would not be felt directly by humans, as the body's tissues would respond uniformly to the stretching of space-time. Overall, the interaction and detection of gravitational waves remain a complex topic, with significant implications for understanding cosmic events.
  • #31
mfb said:
If there is no matter falling in, we would just note the gravitational lensing effect on starlight passing close to it, most notably in Gaia data.
The heliopause and termination shock would move further from the sun in the direction of the black hole.

Why in that direction?
There would be some matter falling in. The sparse interstellar gas of Local Bubble.
But if you have a black hole moving at high relative speed through sparse interstellar gas, what kind of disturbance is created? The gas accelerates on approach to the hole - then falls past event horizon with most of its kinetic energy.
 

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